BRIO received their license to sell Thomas the Tank Engine trains in the U.K. in 1996, though production did not begin until 1997 and product brochures weren’t printed until 1998. All Thomas products were marketed under the name “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends”, save for Lady, Diesel 10, Dodge, and Splatter, which were marketed under “Thomas and the Magic Railroad” after the release of the movie of the same name in the year 2000. BRIO lost their license in 2001.

BRIO did not produce any Thomas products for sale by dealers in the U.S.: that license was held by Learning Curve from the early 1990’s until 2011, and it is currently held by Fisher-Price.